TREASURY

Public Service Pensions

Stephen Timms: Legislation governing public service pensions requires public service pensions to be increased annually by the same percentage as additional pensions (State Earnings Related Pension and State Second Pension). The Minister of State for Pensions Reform announced on 7 December 2006, Official Report, column 451, that benefits such as additional pensions will be increased by 3.6 per cent. in line with the annual increase in the Retail Prices Index up to September 2006. Public service pensions will therefore be increased by 3.6 per cent. from 9 April 2007, except those which have been in payment for less than a year, which will receive a pro-rata increase.

Child Trust Fund

Edward Balls: The Government's Child Trust Fund initiative is designed to strengthen the saving habit and ensure that at age 18 every young person will have access to a financial asset. The scheme will also help bring financial education to life for children, providing a practical and real life example of saving.
	The latest Child Trust Fund account opening figures, published on 4 January, highlight the continuing success of the Child Trust Fund, with three-quarters of parents opening an account for their child. There are also early indications that more parents are now regularly saving for their children. However, there is more to do to reach new parents and to encourage the further involvement of parents whose child has an account. The Government will be launching Child Trust Fund Week on Monday 15 January to encourage parents and families to engage with their child's account, by saving for their child's future and by using the Child Trust Fund to help teach children about money and saving.
	I will write to all MPs later this week with details of new Child Trust Fund account opening figures for their constituencies, in order to consider what more can be done locally to encourage parents to make the most of the opportunities the Child Trust Fund represents.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Freedom of Information

Harriet Harman: My noble Friend, Baroness Ashton, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has made the following written ministerial statement:
	"On 19 December 2006, the Department for Constitutional Affairs published "The Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Statistics on Implementation in Central Government: July to September 2006".
	This is the seventh quarterly bulletin produced by the DCA monitoring the performance of central Government and associated bodies under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
	Copies of these statistics have been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses."

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

Kim Howells: Members will wish to be aware of the outcome of the Sixth Review Conference of States Parties to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention held in Geneva from 20 November to 8 December 2006.
	On 8 December, States Party agreed a three-part Final Document which included a Final Declaration where States declared their continued commitment to the Convention and their determination to exclude completely the possibility of the use of biological weapons. States Party reviewed the operation of the Convention and expressed their views on all its Articles in some detail. Importantly States Party agreed that the prohibitions in Article I, which defines the scope of the Convention, apply to all scientific and technological developments in the life sciences and in other fields of science relevant to the Convention that have no peaceful purpose.
	The Conference also:
	endorsed the work done between 2003 and 2005 by States Party on five specific topics relevant to the Convention;
	established a three-person implementation support unit based in the UN in Geneva, to perform specific tasks in support of States Party and to serve as a focal point;
	agreed that where possible States should submit their Confidence Building Measure (CBM) returns electronically and that they should be circulated between States Party electronically;
	agreed to a concerted effort by States Party to persuade other States to join the Convention;
	agreed a further inter-sessional work programme for 2007-2010 to discuss:
	in 2007
	(a) ways and means to enhance national implementation, including enforcement of national legislation, strengthening of national institutions and co-ordination among national law enforcement institutions; and
	(b) regional and sub-regional co-operation on BTWC implementation;
	in 2008
	(c) national, regional and international measures to improve bio-safety and bio-security, including laboratory safety and security of pathogens and toxins; and
	(d) oversight, education, awareness-raising, and adoption and/or development of codes of conduct with the aim to prevent misuse in the context of advances in bio-science and technology research with the potential of use for purposes prohibited by the Convention;
	in 2009
	(e) with a view to enhancing international co-operation, assistance and exchange in biological sciences and technology for peaceful purposes, promoting capacity in building in the fields of disease surveillance, detection, diagnosis and containment of infectious diseases: (1) for States Parties in need of assistance, identifying requirements and requests for capacity enhancement, and (2) from States Parties in a position to do so, and international organisations, opportunities for providing assistance related to these fields;
	and in 2010
	(f) provision of assistance and co-ordination with relevant organisations upon request by any State Party in the case of alleged use of biological or toxin weapons, including improving national capabilities for disease surveillance, detection, and diagnosis and public health systems.
	The above agreement provides a good basis for future collaboration and co-ordination between States Party to the Convention. The United Kingdom worked closely with European Union partners and with a wide range of other States in the preparatory phase and at the Conference itself to build agreement on the middle ground, which ultimately provided the basis for the final consensus.
	The Government are grateful to the President of the Conference, Ambassador Masood Khan of Pakistan, for his tireless efforts to achieve such a positive outcome which we believe represents a significant success for multilateralism in the non-proliferation and disarmament field.